1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to golf clubs, and more particularly to a tunable golf club head for a wood, iron or putter, and methods of making and adjusting such tunable heads.
2. Description of Related Art
With the increasing popularity of golf around the world, more and better golf clubs, such as irons, putters and/or woods, are being designed and fabricated. In addition, because of the availability of new and improved materials, such golf clubs are continuously being made so as to be stronger and lighter. However, such stronger and lighter clubs have failed to meet the all of the requirements of players, particularly since the skill levels of players range from those of the beginner, with basically no skills at all, to those of the highly skilled players, such as professionals. Therefore, although some golf clubs may be adequate for a beginner, such clubs might in the hands of a professional, be almost too light and/or provide too much power for the existing conditions of a particular golf course.
Also, because of the continued rise in the number of golfers over the years, and the better and more consistent quality of golf balls which are available, golf club manufacturers have tried to meet the needs of individual golfers by providing golf clubs with heads which are manufactured so as to meet the perceived desires or needs of such golfers.
Typical of the proposed golf club heads which utilize new materials and which attempt to meet some of the perceived desires or needs of various golfers are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,064,197 ("'197"), 4,988,104 ("'104"), 4,930,781 ("'781"), 4,928,972 ("'972"), 4,884,812 ("'812"), 4,884,808 ("'808"), 4,618,149 ("'149"), 4,432,549 ("549") and 4,067,572 ("'572"). The '197 patent discloses a method and means to change the sound emitted from a metal "wood" golf club head by providing a pair of chambers within a golf club head behind a resilient face plate, and connecting the pair of chambers together by a throat so that the rear or second of the pair of chambers acts as a Hemholtz resonator the modify the sound propagated in the first or forward chamber upon impact of the resilient face plate with a golf ball. This patent also discusses the use of such a golf club head to maximize the flying distance of the ball, and suggests that if the face plate thereof was made thinner, that not only would the pitch of the club head change, but when striking a golf ball the thinner face plate would have a trampoline-like effect, thereby enhancing the propulsion effects of the club head against the struck ball. However, there is no further disclosure therein as to why such results occur and/or how they may be used to "tune" or change such a club head for an individual user.
The '104 and the '781 patents disclose further golf club head structures, in which the club heads are hollow and include means in the hollow club heads to change the sound emitted by the head, when it strikes a golf ball. The '781 patent also discusses the use of perimeter-weighted woods and irons with a ball striking face or plate having a thin central wall such that the golf striking area produces a result similar to a tennis racquet effect where the ball deflects the forward wall of the thin face plate rearwardly at impact, hugs the ball for about 15 milliseconds and slings it forward off the club face. This '781 patent states that this is sometimes is referred to as the banjo effect, and goes on to discuss what happens when players use such clubs with a thin forward wall, and have an off-center hit, which results in a significant velocity decrease toward the perimeter of the thin forward wall, away from the center, because of a reduction in the "sling shot" effect. However, there is no further disclosure in the '781 patent as to or how such club heads may be modified and/or used to "tune" or change such a golf club head for an individual user.
The '572 patent discloses a golf club having a shaft and a club head in which the club head contains a stationary main body portion and a face portion which is rotatably movable with respect to the stationary portion to vary the angular displacement of the face portion of the club head. However, there is no disclosure in the '572 patent as to or how such club head might be modified and/or used to "tune" or change the reaction of the face portion of such a golf club head, for an individual user.
The '972, '812, '808, '149, and '549 patents disclose various means and methods of providing hollow golf club heads with various fillers and weights, or changeable face plates, to overcome various indicated problems, or to provide specific enumerated advantages.
However, none of these prior art patents meet all of the perceived needs of golfers and these known designs tend to have some or all of the following disadvantages or problems:
(a) The inherent design of the known hollow club heads are substantially permanent after manufacture and cannot be easily or simply changed for a different type of golf club head; or for use in varying conditions; or for a change in skill of a player; or for use with a different golf ball. PA1 (b) Known adjusting means for golf club heads, such as shown in the '572 patent, look unattractive and are limited to specific type club heads for adjusting the angle of the face plate, not the reaction and/or action of the face plate. PA1 (c) No provision is made for "tuning" of a golf club head for use by a weak or unskilled player. PA1 (d) No means is known for modifying golf club heads by asymmetric "tuning" for less talented players with deficient swing mechanics. PA1 (e) No provision is made for "tuning" (actually "detuning") a golf club head for use by a highly skilled or professional player, on a shorter golf course, where substantially below par scoring occurs as a result of today's and tomorrow's high technology golf club heads, and where the golf course layout cannot be changed, so as to maintain the golf course's posted scoring level.
Finally, even if some of the known club heads could be modified to overcome some the above set forth problems, others are caused, or may still remain. Therefore, there is a long standing need in the art for a method to accomplish and a golf club head that may be individually adjusted or "tuned" for use by different players as, for example, to replace expensive lessons for swing correction, or for use on different golf courses, and/or for use with different golf balls. The device and method of the present invention overcomes many of the known limitations and problems, and may be adapted for use with any type of club head, to provide golf club heads that may be adjusted so as to react in a predetermined manner when used by a specific golfer to strike a golf ball of known resiliency. The novel golf club head assembly of the present invention is comparatively easy to manufacture and "tune" for specific applications and players.